Tallulah Wine Bar & Bistro
Price: $$$
Address: 155 S Bates St # 201, Birmingham, MI 48009
Phone: (248) 731-7066
Hours: Monday-Thursday 4-10pm ,Friday-Saturday 4-11pm
I'm always excited to try new bougie restaurants and restaurant week makes that dream come true. Cites all over the United States hosts a week long opportunity to dine at some of their finest local establishments with preset 3+ course menus for a set price. Its currently restaurant week in Birmingham, MI (February 5 – 9, 2018) where restaurants have $15 lunch menus and $30 dinner menus. Participating restaurants and their corresponding menus are here.
After searching through a few menus, I decided Tallulah was the one. It was attractive to me because the dinner menu featured non-beef and non-pork entrées. I don't really travel to the suburbs often so I was excited to try out a new area. I usually head out to Birmingham for brunch at Mad Hatter Bistro (also a participating restaurant) or to Mitchell's Seafood for dinner. Tallulah is located right in downtown Birmingham, MI.
Downtown Birmingham is the cutest little area with tons of shops and restaurants. Across the street from the restaurant was a small park with Christmas lights covering every little tree. It set the tone for the lovely night my boyfriend and I were about to experience. It definitely added bonus points to this dining experience because it was so romantic. I can just imagine being in downtown Birmingham wearing a sundress, grabbing a nice lunch then stopping for some ice cream and eating it in the park with my love. Fellas, I hope you're taking notes because this is one of those fairly inexpensive dates that she'd love.
We made a reservation before we arrived and I highly suggest you do the same. During restaurant week, restaurants are fully reserved so walk-ins are almost non existent. Tallulah is broken up into two areas, Tallulah and Tallulah Too. We were seated in the Tallulah side at our table of choice. The Christmas lights theme continued throughout the restaurant. There were lit tree branches hanging from the ceiling illuminating the space with dim romantic light. The tables were set with white table cloths and a simple flower vase centerpiece with a few simple fresh tulips. I was impressed before I even tasted a single thing.
After we were seated, the waiter unfolded my napkin and placed it on my lap for me. I'm like okay, okay. I'm going to get to use my Midnight Golf-taught etiquette skills tonight! I was glad I took the time to actually get dressed for my date instead of just throwing on some jeans. I was not expecting the bougie level of this place to be this high from just reading the restaurant week menu but it exceeded my expectations.
The wait staff brought out menus for us to look over and did not offer or inform us of the restaurant week menu. I get it. I would rather have my patrons order food at the regular cost than the discounted one. I simply asked for it and they gladly brought it over. Rule number one in restaurant dining is to never order the same thing as the other person. Plus, if you get two different things then you can try both of them! Sharing meals with my boyfriend teaches me to share with him and put him first. I always genuinely give him the larger or last piece.
The dining experience included 3 courses for $30, so for an appetizer we ordered one of each - a soup and a salad. They were both a little strange but it was okay. By strange, I mean that they weren't bad but they weren't good either. It's a good thing the dinner only got better from there. The waiter also brought out bread and butter for the table and even offered to split our meals on separate plates since he was aware we were sharing. We ordered the salmon and the lamb ragu for our entrées. The duck breast entree was pretty enticing as well but I'd had duck at Prime + Proper and wanted to make sure my entrées stayed diverse.
The salmon was seared perfectly. The salmon was on a bed of lyonnaise potatoes on top of cauliflower purée. The potato hash included perfectly caramelized onions. The radish sprouts added a fresh element to the dish. The filet was a nice size. I would've loved some more of the potatoes though - they were fire!
The lamb belly ragu featured house made pasta, a poached egg, and parmigiano reggiano . If you've never had real pasta, you are definitely missing out. I grew up eating box pasta and wasn't graced by the taste of real pasta until I was in my twenties. Spaghetti was always the go to meal in my household as may be true with most families with multiple children. This was mainly because it fed so many for very little cost.
One box of spaghetti noodles for $1.00, a pack of ground turkey meat for $3.99 and a jar of spaghetti sauce for $1.89 and you have a simple whole meal for a little over a dollar per serving. I definitely understand why one might buy boxed noodles instead of making them from scratch. For the time it takes you to prepare it, it's not worth more than the $1 it costs to grab off the shelf. You can, though, cheat and get the best of both worlds by buying pre-made pasta in the refrigerated section. #majorkey
Now this lamb belly ragu though was the bougiest spaghetti I've ever had. Fresh, homemade noodles definitely surpass the taste of boxed noodles any day! There is a distinct difference in the taste. It seems as though all the love that is put into preparing the pasta is emitted into the taste. I don't eat lamb that often, so when I do it's always a treat. The lamb wasn't ground like I was expecting, rather, it was cut into small tender chunks. The pasta was topped with a poached egg that, when cut open, spilled onto the pasta adding an extra creaminess to the dish. I was super impressed by this pasta and I might have to recreate this for bae. We were sharing, but we both wanted this one for ourselves.
Neither entrée was super huge in portion, but we already had an appetizer and were saving room for dessert so we each had a small amount left over. The waiter offered to box our food and I took advantage of that - 1) because it was delicious 2) because I hate wasting food (I know there are people who aren't privileged enough to have guaranteed meals).
Dessert arrived, one of each choice on the restaurant week menu, chocolate mousse and a trio of sorbet. I know I'll catch a lot of flack for this statement but I'm not a fan of chocolate. I did like the texture of the mousse. It wasn't like pudding but thicker, like a frosting (don't kill me but I don't care for frosting either). You'd love this if you are a chocolate lover because it was dense with chocolate flavor. The presentation of the mousse was cute. It was served it in a stemless wine glass with some crumble - which added another element of texture - and a fresh raspberry.
The sorbet was absolutely delicious. It brought the meal to a nice close. It featured three different flavors: green apple, raspberry champagne, and blood orange. If I was blindfolded I could tell you exactly what the flavors were just by tasting them. They had pieces of real fruit inside. It was super fruity and smooth. The sorbet almost made me forget it was winter time.
From start to finish, this dinner experience was immaculate! I would definitely suggest you jump on the opportunity to dine here at a lower cost (I would even pay full price). All of the plates listed on the restaurant week menu were ones that are currently on the menu. I'm so Detroit, but Tallulah had me thinking that I could be a suburbanite. This was the best service I have ever received! The wait staff will really make or break a dining experience. Management at Tallulah must be well aware of this. I felt like a rich stay-at-home mom with my pearls on. Next time I'd love to try some of their wine.
I can't wait until the weather clears up so that we can take Knight Knight Baby Love with us to the beautiful downtown Birmingham.